Group Asks Government to Regulate ‘Functional Foods’

Foods touted for their additions of new ingredients to boost their healthfulness are filling supermarket shelves, like the split-pea soup with the herb St. John’s wort to “give your mood a natural lift,” or the carrot cake with heart-healthy fiber.

But such foods are drawing the ire of some consumer advocates who say a bowl of soup does not treat depression and fiber cannot counter the cake’s fat to make it healthful.

So the advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the government Thursday to tighten controls over these “functional foods,” saying too many companies are promoting unproven ingredients and making misleading claims.

The result is a mishmash of products that confuses consumers--and could backfire by casting doubt on true functional foods that do have scientifically proven ingredients, the group contends.

“While functional foods hold much promise, without effective regulation, they may merely become the snake oil of the next century,” CSPI director Michael Jacobson wrote to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Jane Henney.

Functional foods are not a new concept. One of the first was calcium-fortified orange juice.

Functional foods have become a booming industry, estimated to bring in $15 billion this year. Yet the FDA has no policy determining just what foods qualify.

Joseph Levitt, the agency’s food chief, said that developing such a policy is a top priority that FDA hopes to complete this year.

Food companies were indignant at CSPI’s charges.

The fact that Kellogg’s carrot cake contains fat “does not negate the beneficial properties” of the psyllium fiber added to it, said Gene Grabowski of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.